The Argument What's wrong with Bowling Alone?
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Aug 13, 2026 Two commentators revisit Putnam’s Bowling Alone and spar over whether community ties really unraveled. They debate churches, bowling leagues, and what kinds of associations actually fell apart. They trace TV, early internet hopes, and phones as drivers of social change. They argue about shifting civic institutions, whether cooperation declined, and what realistic remedies might look like.
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Television Was The First Mass Leisure Disruptor
- Putnam finds television is the largest time-use shift driving decline in civic engagement, as households moved from shared TV to many screens and solitary viewing.
- Matthew says TV adoption is the quantitatively biggest change in leisure that crowds out weekly meetings and informal visits.
The Internet Started As Conversation Then Became TV
- At the internet's dawn optimists thought online life would replace local associational ties with interest-based communities and forums.
- Matthew argues early text-based forums looked better than cable TV, but video and platforms later turned the web into another mass-entertainment medium.
Membership Organizations Enable Real Collective Action
- Formal membership organizations can take collective action in ways loose social ties cannot, making them useful for politics and local problem-solving.
- Matthew uses the American Association of University Professors endorsing a candidate as an example of an association acting as a cohesive political actor.
